The Calm Before the Storm

Several more days passed.

The weather grew hotter and hotter, but the streets remained deserted.

The Hidden Leaf Village was as peaceful as ever.

The only thing worth celebrating was that the clothes worn by the occasional female ninja passing by on the street became cooler as the weather heated up. The healthy physiques the girls had sculpted through training since childhood allowed ordinary people to distinguish their identity at a glance from the crowd.

In a time when industries were failing and the red-light district had been closed for nearly half a year, the ninjas' fair legs had become a unique and beautiful sight in the eyes of the idle old men on the streets.

However, today happened to be somewhat inconvenient.

"Tsk."

A less-than-ladylike tutting sound reached their ears. A few middle-aged men gathered in a corner in front of a teahouse, playing cards and ogling legs, instinctively looked over in the direction of the sound.

They just happened to catch a glimpse of the Uchiha Police Force armband on the girl's shoulder.

The crimson Sharingan swept over, and the Yin Release Chakra deep within her eyes instinctively emitted a powerful mental pressure.

Even without actively casting a jutsu, the mere passive oppressive feeling immediately caused their behinds to clench.

Their bodies stiffened for only a moment. The old men who had been laughing lewdly and secretly glancing outwards just moments before immediately threw down their cards and scrambled into the teahouse in a flurry.

Ninjas and ordinary people were two different species.

Uchiha Yayoi withdrew her gaze, the crimson eyes in her sockets silently turning black. As if afraid of the person beside her getting angry, she cautiously glanced at Mizu, who was lowering his head and reading beside her.

"Well done."

Unexpectedly, Sahara Mizu smiled indifferently and praised her inexplicably.

"No, I... I... what?"

Uchiha Yayoi, whose small action had been discovered, subconsciously wanted to explain, but it wasn't until she registered his words that she suddenly let out a cute, drawn-out sound.

"What's wrong?" Sahara Mizu was still looking at the scroll in his hand, his tone matter-of-fact, displaying an openly petty attitude. "I don't like others looking at you either."

"Also, your pants are a bit short today. That mole is showing."

As he spoke, he turned his head slightly and pointed his fingertip at the outside of Miss Yayoi's left leg.

There was a very small, round mole there.

"Mmm."

The boy's slightly rough fingertip brushed against the girl's fair, sensitive skin, feeling slightly ticklish.

Uchiha Yayoi's face immediately flushed a rosy pink, and she was too flustered to speak.

Perhaps she was a little shy because of Sahara Mizu's overly obvious possessiveness, or perhaps she didn't dare admit that she had spent a long time before leaving the house deliberately choosing this tight outfit to 'seduce' him, or perhaps she was simply made very shy by his direct action.

She was like a completely different person compared to her fierce demeanor from the previous second.

Indeed.

A girl's blush is more beautiful than all the love confessions in the world.

After a long while, she was heard to whisper, "Sister Reina said boys like this... I thought Mizu would like it too."

Sahara Mizu was silent for a moment, then confessed penitently:

"Sorry."

"Actually, I'm more of a short skirt and stockings kind of person."

"Hey!"

"What ninja wears a short skirt..."

Miss Yayoi lightly hit him, annoyed. Her small face was still a little tense, pretending to be angry, but the corners of her mouth unintentionally curved upwards.

The possessiveness unintentionally revealed by the person she liked always made her feel so satisfied.

Sahara Mizu also smiled, said nothing more, and continued to look down at the Fuinjutsu basics in his hand.

These past few days, he had been moving back and forth between home, Tsunade's house, and the training ground, like a shriveled sponge, absorbing everything related to Sealing Jutsu as much as possible.

Due to the existence of the Six Eyes and the brain development brought about by the Limitless Technique - Stage Two, his learning ability was several times stronger than before. When it came to learning basic content, he was practically unstoppable.

Aside from a small portion of relatively difficult sealing character combinations, he had mostly grasped the contents of this basic scroll.

However, because Tsunade had either been organizing documents at the Hidden Leaf Hospital or attending meetings at the Hokage Building these past few days, he could only research the remaining difficult points by himself, and the progress was quite slow.

But, he had already gained a little insight into how to break the Sealing Jutsu on his tongue.

Furthermore...

Sahara Mizu lowered his head and looked at the scroll.

With his 360-degree vision, he glanced at the girl beside him.

Miss Yayoi was still her carefree, relaxed self, as if being by his side completely lifted the heavy burden of being a cool and aloof girl.

During this time, Mr. Sahara had been very careful to look after Miss Yayoi's mental health.

His display of possessiveness towards her was naturally intentional.

After all, unlike the simple mode of their yandere younger sister and the Mature Honey Princess Tsunade...

In front of those two, even if he took the worst path, at most he would only die. The only difference would be getting stabbed a few extra times before he died.

But Miss Yayoi was different.

If his path went wrong by accident, or if he suddenly disappeared, who knew what kind of Mangekyo Sharingan ability Uchiha Yayoi would suddenly awaken?

Something like "a room you can't leave until you're S*xed to death," "Inception with only the two of us," "a twisted gravity world that can yank you back no matter where you are."

Die?

You wish!

Anyway, Sahara Mizu felt he couldn't afford to gamble.

"Mizu, did Lord Sakumo tell you why he wanted us to go over?"

After only pretending to be angry for a little while, Miss Yayoi couldn't help but speak again, her hands behind her back: "A team of all Jonin usually can't be formed, right?"

"Probably, it's an issue on the front lines with the Land of Wind."

Sahara Mizu was quite sensitive to information: "Hidden Sand and Stone Village Ninja have gradually withdrawn from the Land of Rain. Both sides have freed up their hands, which is undoubtedly bad news for us."

"Who knows when this war will end."

"Who knows."

Uchiha Yayoi mumbled, glancing casually at the young man's profile, and sighed softly.

How wonderful would it be if there were more peaceful times like this, being with Mizu?

Even if it was just watching him from the side.

A girl in her first love, even her wishes were conservative and cautious, as if a wish too extravagant would make her own heart race uncontrollably.

So, just a little bit would be enough.

Just as she was thinking this, her arm was suddenly grabbed by Sahara Mizu.

"Slow down."

Whoosh—

As soon as the words fell, a kunai was seen sweeping past not far in front of the two. Two figures, one white and one yellow, quickly crisscrossed, fighting at a speed difficult for ordinary human eyes to catch.

Uchiha Yayoi stopped subconsciously.

Only then did she realize that, without knowing it, they had already arrived at the Third Training Ground where their team had agreed to meet.

Hatake Sakumo and Namikaze Minato had probably arrived long ago and were taking advantage of the time when no one was around to warm up.

Clang!

Zing—

The sound of metal colliding echoed continuously in this empty forest area, occasionally catching glimpses of tiny sparks splashing in mid-air.

Footprints left on the ground, tree trunks, and branches were deep and strong, and from time to time, one or two dull fighting sounds could be heard.

However, even though he was also a Jonin and a genius ninja recognized by the Third Hokage, the current Namikaze Minato was still too young in front of Hatake Sakumo.

After just over three minutes, Minato, who was about to charge into a wire trap set between the branches in his Wind Release Body Flicker state, was kicked down from the tree by Hatake Sakumo.

Thud.

He landed on the ground looking a bit disheveled.

Huff, huff

He gasped for air in large gulps.

When he turned his head, he suddenly noticed Sahara Mizu and Uchiha Yayoi standing by the field. He raised his hand a little awkwardly and waved at them.

"Hi?"

"Oh, you're here."

"Come sit."

Hatake Sakumo also dropped from the tree, and while he was at it, he reached out and pulled Minato, who was lying on the ground, up.

In the realm of high-speed combat, fifteen-year-old Minato was still a junior in front of him.

However, Minato possessed the talent and potential to surpass him in this area, and he wasn't suited for the Ninjutsu-based fighting style of his teacher, Jiraiya.

Whenever he had free time, he couldn't help but want to teach this kid more.

After greeting the two, Hatake Sakumo found a tree stump, patted his rear end, and sat down. He also took out an apple from his pocket that he didn't know when he had picked, and took large bites, chewing as he spoke:

"There's a small matter I need to consult with you about."

(Uchiha Yayoi - Hair tied up ↑)

Thanks to book friends SAGIO, book friend 20210725173827439, Tianmei_Shegu, Shenli_Aya Hua's dog, Pinggu Yidianying, Zhai Niao Jiang, Boluo Boluo Da, and 00r for the monthly votes!

The next chapter definitely won't be finished before 1 AM. I'll post it tomorrow.

Working tomorrow, good night everyone~(∠▽<)⌒☆